The Birth of Jurassic World
by TheSpiderPastel
Summary: The story of Jurassic Park remained that way, a story until the Christmas of 2004, when InGen announced it would open a fresh, new park the following summer. Fearful of the danger but hopeful of the opportunities it presents, Joyce Tzu applies for a job at the park before it opens and joins the 'Jurassic Crew' under the watchful eye of CEO Simon Masarai and Claire Dearing.
1. December 25th, 2004

The clink of glasses echoed across the hall ways, penetrating the beige walls of various bed rooms; the scent of egg nog and ham too drifted through the air, it would be tempting to anyone who didn't part-take in the merriment.

But for Joyce, this was a time for mourning.

Just one week ago her companion, Valentine, had died of old age. And while most in the family were happy to have done away with the small creature, Joyce was beyond devastated. The passing of her childhood friend had come so suddenly, and without warning, leaving Joyce completely alone.

She didn't blame him for dying, for leaving her, the only blame was placed upon a family who seemed not to care.

For the past week she couldn't help but to shout a greeting upon arriving home from school, or saying goodnight. Valentine had always responded to her calls, he never hesitated to sing her praise or to squawk out the various phrases taught to him over the years.

By now she had grown used to his absence-the work required to do away with his cage and his toys had already been completed; merely keeping what little was left of his ashes with her in the generic shape of a macaw. His favorite toy had too been cremated.

In a cruel attempt at a joke, her brother suggested getting Valentine "stuffed and mounted on a pedestal." For the past week she hardly spoke to her older brother, having resisted the urge to sock him in the jaw for it-such action was ill-advised and she knew it. She let him have his fun, and moved on.

The day of the cremation, her brother apologized, seeing as Christmas was only two days away. She forgave him albeit silently.

Joyce's loneliness was only enhanced by the holiday spirit.

Valentine was once owned by her aunt whom received the bird as gift on the day of his name-sake.

Through her dried tears Joyce managed to let out a chuckle.

Valentine's purpose in life was ironic.

He was purchased to help her aunt cope with the loss of her husband and now fifteen years later, Valentine had passed, leaving Joyce with nothing but memories of that bright and cheery macaw.

The rapid tapping of pencil led against a hardwood desk was hypnotizing. Joyce had become lost in her thoughts about Valentine for a few minutes now, distracted from what school work she was required to catch up on due to Valentine's passing.

At least her teachers and friends had sympathy for her, everyone knew of her attachment to the bird. Yet the people should be able to confide in, her family, couldn't care less-this left Joyce feeling isolated and ignored even by the extended family who came to visit.

There were a few knocks on her door, a few calls of her name, yet even she did not care enough to answer them.

All she wanted to hear was the chatter of Valentine, ringing her ear off with his songs or spitting out random facts he learned from the television-she said she would do anything to bring Valentine back to life.

However that was a child's dream. A child's dream to bring back a lost pet.

And something she would have to get over.

The rapid tapping of her pencil coincided with the flickering of the tv mounted by her door-the snow white waves of an eternally dead cable signal occasionally flashed back and forth from the local news; _The Charlie Brown Christmas Specia_l; some shopping network she couldn't name and so on. Joyce never watched television much, it was all noise.

However, in between the rapid taps of her pencil and the flickering of the TV, a single word caught her attention; _Dinosaur_.

She blinked once and lifted her head, her neck practically snapping in half as she faced the left, glancing up at the small TV. She must have misheard the TV-who's talking about extinct animals at this time of year? At first she ignored it, blowing it off, but then recalled the pictures she had seen rather recently.

What were they?

Bones; skeletons; cat-claws the size of human hands; teeth like razors.

Men with French or British names blabbering about some kind of theme park in California.

This sensation filled her with déjà vu and it was a feeling she would rather live without.

She sat silent for a moment attempting to shake off such vague, or perhaps recent memories that seemed to flicker in her mind much like the TV signal. It was an odd feeling that required further investigation. And as a bookworm, she couldn't help but remain curious.

Grasping the drawer by her desk she reached inside and grasped picture-book dictionary she had been gifted a long time ago; despite its primitive contents, she found the simplified definitions and children's jokes amusing.

The lack of dust and stains on its pages indicated the book remained in great care having a remained a fond part of her childhood but its few pages held many creases having once been abused by her younger self. She thumbed through the small twenty-six page dictionary and it wasn't only a few seconds before a giant capital D in bold print was revealed.

The definition below read as followed.

_D._

_D is for Dinosaur._

_Dinosaurs once lived on earth over 65-million years ago. Some were about the size of a cat, while a few looked like they were as big as mountains!_

_Some well-known Dinosaurs included the Tyrannosaurus Res ( ), the Triceratops and the Stegosaurus._

This was followed, amusingly enough by chicken-scratch doodles of a making a rather rude remark towards a Triceratops whom lost his horns. Joyce became caught up in a fit of giggles, only interrupted when a loud slam against her wall nearly knocked the TV off its perch-she violently scrambled from her seat in an attempt to catch it before it hit the ground.

Fortunately for her, the extra reinforcements she applied to the shelf held fast and saved her TV from further damage; it wouldn't have been the first time either. Her parents were known to get a little wild during the holidays especially when most of her aunts and uncles came over; she was happy her parents had a strong bong with their brothers and sisters but this was partially why she felt so alone every Christmas.

Obviously, the death of Valentine didn't help this year.

Joyce adjusted the TV, giving it a good knock to bring the picture back up before sitting down again and recovering her homework from where it had fallen into the trash. The room soon buzzed with the lively static of snowy cable as she got back to work, the occurrence distracting Joyce from her previous curiosities about dinosaurs as the dictionary had slipped under the bed.

"If I had the opportunity and funding to try again, I would not-" a voice cut off short, this again drew her attention towards the TV that for once held a signal for more than ten seconds. The images that popped on screen was black and white, it shook and wiggled due to improper editing by the recorder.

On screen it portrayed the image of fat-man in white shirt; trousers, shoes and hat like that of an explorer. He gave her the vibes of a greedy villain from _Indiana Jones_. The cane he held, she noticed its odd design on screen-it wasn't curved or tipped with a tennis ball like many others. The knob resembled some kind of fine stone that shinned. The tv screen flicked and the camera zoomed closer, revealing a large insect encased within.

"What is that-" a soft mutter escaped her lips.

She was suddenly spooked by a second voice from the TV, she knew this to be the host of the local station in her county, although the image remained fixated on the old man in white, it flashed to pictures of strange looking animals.

They made her recall the imagery of skeletons that had passed through her vision recently.

The hostess continued, however her speech was broken

"Science fiction or science fact? The man you see on your screens is philan- businessman John Hammond whose work on fossil restoration have gr- impacted the scientific community. Over the past ten years it was only theorized what inhumane experiments he had been conducting on Las Cinco Muertes; an archipelago located southwest of Costa Rica. For - - - - - and his associates have been reverse engineering the dna of extinct predators. - - - - - but at what cost?"

The new host goes on to describe the process of which dinosaurs and other extinct reptiles were restored via careful rehydration of DNA strands contained within the blood of insects encased in amber.

She goes on to state that Hammond has bejeweled his cane with a similar amber fossil.

Joyce, for single moment, had to grip her chest to stop herself from breathing so hard. This news was terrifying. Why would anyone do this?! She understood recreating herbivores but, massive predators like a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Spinosaurus?!

The impact on the local environment would be astronomical.

Yet, the prospect intrigued her.

The television, for once, gave an absolute clear, vibrate picture.

"Now, after a decade of secrets, there is a new owner of InGen and its remaining assets. Simon Masrani, owner of start-up oil company, Masrani Energy has announced that less than six months from this broadcast- Jurassic World will be open to the public!"

All her life, Jurassic Park had been a story, a rumor, something that was kept hush to most of the general public but now it was real. These creatures that she could only dream about once again walked the face of the earth.

Joyce had previously never put into much thought into dinosaurs, they died off long ago, and she can't make an impact on their lives like she could the endangered and threatened animals of today.

Perhaps now, she could make a difference.

Joyce gripped the necklace holding Valentine's ashes in her hand. If they could pull DNA from amber, why not ash?

She held onto that small fraction of a chance-a chance to hold that cheery, singing bird in her arms again.


	2. April 27th, 2005

The process to join the Jurassic World crew was long and arduous as Joyce quickly found. Due to the dangers present on the island and its extreme; remote location, the employees had to be over 21 and required years of experience in order to do their jobs effectively and efficiently. Even menial jobs such as selling toys required experience in the retail industry due to the sheer volume of guest who would be vacationing on the island and its resorts.

There was no room for error on Jurassic World.

Extra employees could not just be called in to work like the many theme parks built on the US mainland.

Masrani spared no expense, he hired good employees, and plenty of them.

It seemed that for a majority of Jurassic World's employees this was the case, however what came to her attention during the over-all meeting were the rumors about the Asset Manager being a teenager himself. The older corporate employees brought up complaints, words she could barely make out during the initial meetings.

She brushed it off for the most part, she knew adults well enough that they bickered when something was unsatisfactory about their jobs. She continued to be reminded of this fact even as she departed from the back-lot of Universal Studios, employees young and old bickered-and questions came from new employees such as herself.

It seemed everyone wanted to know the identity of Jurassic World's asset manager. From what she heard, an incident on the island meant they had to keep his identity a secret, and that Masrani planned to introduce him to the rest of the company upon Jurassic World's opening day. The rest of Universal Studios employees were vague at best about the whole situation even when she grew curious enough to prod some of them with a few questions she was silenced with hand-waves and head-shakes.

It seemed no one wanted to be bothered with it either.

It was rather unconventional so to speak, the method of which she even got to her job meeting and to be greeted with such silence. She and assorted others in her specific group were picked up one by one across the country in a pristine silver bus with minimal decoration. How did she pick out said bus from many others within a crowded bus station? Well, the truth is, she didn't.

Joyce wasn't sure why, but she was told explicitly not to ask any questions. One could assume it had to do with the safety and security of the park's new employees. Although her meeting at Universal Studios Orlando were on the cusp of silence about its newest affiliate operation-the actual employees of such a distant world were not.

It didn't take long for an official from the park came to greet her at the station; she was identified by a decorative name tag made up of the Masrani logo, with a large 'J' inscribed just beneath it in bright white bold lettering. It had been custom made for this meeting specifically, once again proving Masrani's intentions of 'sparing no expense' with his newest asset. And resting beside this name-tag, was the necklace of Valentine's ashes.

Each employee picked up was supposed to wearing plain every-day clothing, with the name-tag pinned discreetly close to the neck, as well as one unique marker identifying item matching one they had to describe in the initial application.

While it was a simple request, Joyce believed it stupid. Why not just have the bus depicted with a large Jurassic World logo? Just like all the other theme parks? Why go through so much trouble?

As Joyce later learned from an older teenager in her group, it was due to a security breach from one of the park's own employees at the original location. Masrani wanted everything "as secure as a raptor's cage" according to the Jurassic World guide whom greeted her at the station.

Whatever that meant.

For a perfect and discrete pick-up, the group were rewarded with a pizza party that came with all the pickings. And although the bus was certainly discrete on its shell, the interior was not. From floor to ceiling were photographs of Masrani, John Hammond, and Jurassic World and its accompanying merchandise.

She recalled watching the same video, of which she had seen on the news, put into play on a little display installed in the seat in front of her; it was the same CNN interview from the late 90's describing how Hammond would never build another park.

Yet, in an instant, Masrani appeared on screen with a backdrop of Jurassic World, claiming that he will make Hammond's dream come true, no matter what the cost. Joyce believed him and didn't hesitate to dial down the little display. Her new boss was loud, even on video.

Yes, the bus ride was fun, in fact she found herself chatting it up with another boy a bit younger than her. He was born on April 19th, 1989.-this made Joyce exactly two weeks older than him and he had just celebrated his birthday the day before he'd been accepted. For some odd reason this prospect excited her, she wouldn't be the only adolescent on the bus like her parents had feared. Of course he had called her old at some point, but she only rolled her eyes and laughed.

If anything, this kid might even be flirting with her. "What, do you like me, an old lady?" She re-called, jokingly.

She recalled such memories as if she truly was old, yet they were only born a week prior.

If she felt anything right now, she felt exhausted. Which she thought should have been the last thing she should be feeling. The little packet of papers which concealed the details of her short vacation at Universal described how the CEO thought it best for his newest employees to get 'relieve some stress and anxiety' after their meetings, but before the long journey to the new theme park.

He encouraged riding every coaster, and exploring every area with an open, creative mind.

* * *

A small central location of Universal was cut off to guest, with access granted to only their employees and those belonging to Jurassic World. It had been a small, neat little studio, giving off so much overwhelming information that she could hardly get it down on the strange, computer-like digital pad she was given.

A very kind woman-well, woman could hardly describe her, greeted Joyce and others.

She was a girl really, with fair skin, blue-ish eyes, and bright red hair that hung just above her shoulders. Joyce couldn't find any way to justify her age, but the girl hardly looked a day over 19. She too wore a similar name tag like Joyce and the rest. Below the company logo, a capital 'C' underlined with a red strip.

This made it obvious to anyone that she was truly under Jurassic World's payroll, but that her importance was exceedingly different from theirs. But why? She dressed rather nice, but also plainly, all in white but with fancy cut custom clothes that fit her frame.

However, she had not identified herself, only asking everyone to call her 'C' before pointing to the name tag pinned by her neckline.

'C' described the history of Jurassic World; of the CEO and his company, and of the original location. And, shockingly enough she described in exceptional detail the incident on 'Jurassic Park' before World was built atop it. Joyce wasn't surprised to see a small gaggle of future employees in the group to become wary and fearful of their new opportunity. She could feel the hot breath of a fellow teenager who stood behind too close for comfort. He swiftly departed.

She made a point to say that just like a real zoo- their animals are kept in cages, in glass boxes and behind fences; yet like in the wild, these animals were dangerous and imposing. And no amount of survival training to fend off bears or cougars would be of any use on Jurassic World.

Even the herbivores were dangerous.

Triceratops were not like grazing cattle, they were like rhinos and buffalo-there remained potential to be turned on every second no matter what dinosaur you were faced with.

Joyce recalled more employees filtering out by this point. Their shivers of fear audible. Some even ran the hell out as if their lives depended on it.

She could feel the childhood wonderment that filled their hearts melting away. Like a dream falling apart.

Jurassic World was not a petting zoo, although it _did_ house one.

A few unflattering comments from some older future-employees forced C to have them removed. Joyce noted that they carried pamphlets identifying menial work like selling toys or cleaning trash but they bickered and shouted that these safety protocols were unnecessary considering their new occupation. Regardless of this fact, C had them removed immediately.

And when they were gone, C turned back to the group, and spoke up.

Loudly.

"Jurassic World is a dangerous place, and it takes digression and the cooperation of every employee to keep everyone safe. You are required to treat every dinosaur with respect and patience, no matter what your job is on Isla Nublar. Whether you are managing the health and safety of our assets, or face-painting children and families; every job on Jurassic World must be done with the upmost attention to detail. There is no room for error."

That last little warning from C was the last Joyce had heard from the woman, and the other various officials from the park-during their stay at Universal, the new employees were asked to group together, drink plenty of water, and get used to the heat and noise of one of the busiest theme park's in the world.

Because Jurassic World would be so much worse. Temperatures that soared beyond one-hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit; roars and bellows that could deafen the ears and not to mention the clamoring of park guest; screaming kids and thunderous rumbling of the roller coasters.

Oh yeah.

_Thunder. _

Las Cinco Muertes was known for its storms, most notably the islands not seen by guest, although Nublar itself was victim to hurricanes and the like during Costa Rica's peak seasons. The islands normally only felt the effects of any storms that hit the mainland and were rarely subject to the worst of their wrath. However, storms did happen, as did accidents within the park.

But those were 'far and few' between, according to the pamphlet written by Masrani. However, Jurassic _World_ had never been subject to any horrible accidents.

Thankfully.

* * *

The date was now the 27th.

And within three days' time she would be on Nublar.

And thirty days after that, Jurassic World would open to the public for the very first time.

What lay ahead over the next four weeks?

That was honestly something Joyce didn't have the answer to.

All she knew about Jurassic World was that it will hot and loud, and busier than any theme park or any city on earth.

And the whole idea of it, well, if she was honest-

It terrified her.

The morning spent lost in thought passed like most had for the last week. Joyce, stuck in her hotel room till 10 AM untill the park opened, stared up at the ceiling, or wrote emails back to her parents about her time spent during her 'Pre-Work Vacation' at Universal. It was pretty boring. The emails had to be kept short in order to be approved for verification.

She understood they didn't want any kind of classified information leaking out.

Company secrets. Business inquires. That sort of thing.

Joyce didn't mind.

It wasn't too much trouble to keep it under five-hundred words.

The whole restricted communication clearance ordeal felt so childish and unnecessary, but she didn't mind, really. If anything, she was glad, knowing what happened to Jurassic Park in the past.

After leaving her father a last good-bye email, Joyce swiftly logged off of some secured version of AOL, noting it turned off far faster than her home desktop. She guessed a hotel had to keep their computers up to date for guest convenience, and it was light years faster than any computer at school.

The pamphlet wasn't joking when it asked the new employees to get used to the heat of central Florida, for it would be nothing compared to the scorching sun that baked Las Cinco Muertes. And considering what she knew about the island, which while it wasn't much, she was surprised anything could live there, never the less have a theme park built on it.

If anything, the idea screamed disaster. But it seemed this time, things weren't too good to be true-dinosaurs lived again. And she would be right there beside them.

After a shower and a quick breakfast, Joyce went to work collecting the various papers and pamphlets galore strewn about the hotel room, desperately trying to collect every single scrap. She knew better than to be so careless, but you couldn't blame her. This new opportunity left her shaken but prepared for a new adventure.

In the midst of collecting scraps, one piece stood out in the corner of her eye, screaming for attention for she did not recognize it. This one differed from the pamphlets she received throughout the week. It was orange clasp envelop with golden trim hiding just under her bed; how could have missed it? She could have knocked it off upon arrival.

Upon snatching it, a bold font stamped on the front face greeted her- It stated:

"UPON ARRIVAL. OPEN IMMEDIATELY."

She swallowed a bout of saliva, she could feel her heart sink into her stomach. Twiddling with it, she bent over the clasp, noticing the letters popped off and crumbled way, leaving her palms with a greasy texture. A decorative wax stamp _normally _meant something important, but the greasy feeling in her hands left much to be desired.

There was no time to lose. In her hurry she'd failed to notice the envelope carried a hefty weight.

She didn't hesitate to rip apart what remained of the envelope, and while for a moment she regretted doing so violently, that all washed away when the package practically flew open, having been heavy and filled with all kinds of small objects: pins, nametags, buttons, tickets, business cards, lanyards, magnets and other paraphilia landed in a heap.

One object to fall was a slip of fine laminated paper with words printed in bold, black ink.

Obviously, in her sense of urgency she snatched it up and read it without haste.

"Joyce Tsu, we at the Masrani Jurassic World division would like to formally invite you to join the Jurassic World family! After reading this letter, we welcome you to enjoy your extended stay at Universal Studios Orlando!"

"More letters, how many pieces of paper do I need to collect?" She griped.

Searching through the pile, she found a true _letter _inside a smaller envelope, but it lacked the type-writer feel of the former, and instead was hand-written and formed several pages.

With a shaky breath, she peered open one eye and the letter fell open.

"Dear Ms. Tsu-

My name is Simon Masrani, and while I'm sure you've heard my name before, you may not know exactly who I am. I am the CEO of Masrani Global Corporation and its subsidiaries, including Jurassic World, the largest theme park ever constructed and the birthplace of your new career.

Speaking of your career, unlike many others joining you at Universal Studios, only you will receive this letter. The reason? Out of all our newest associates, you have been specifically chosen to be a part of the Asset division, where you will work alongside Asset-manager Claire Dearing, in managing the treatment, safety, and habilitation of our prehistoric stars; you will work with trainers; paleo-veterinarians, and InGen scientist to ensure the comfort and quality of life for Jurassic World's assets before making them presentable to the public.

Due to the nature of your new career, you will be unable to return to the United States mainland to finish the remainder of this school year, but don't worry, Claire will let you in on the specifics and you will be well accommodated. I have no intention of throwing you or anyone of our newest young associates under the bus, I promise you will be well taken care of.

Sincerely, Simon Masrani- _see you at the park!_"

At the bottom a note was scrawled for her to meet Claire Dearing at the first meeting and introduction to the park; identified by an underlined 'C' for a nametag.

Joyce felt like she could scream, how badly had she messed up? Her heart was still racing, perhaps there was still a chance to meet up with Claire? Was she too late?

With no time to lose, Joyce scrambled to gather the very last of her possessions, and shoved all the contents of the envelop back in before slipping it into her purse, shoving every other paper in various nooks in her suitcase. She didn't care that she would be missing out on one more day of vacation, she was determined to make it up Claire, Masrani, and others, and relentless apologize for such an inexcusable absence.

It seemed like millions of endings to a relatively short story were racing through her head, had she failed already, was this the end to her new journey? Joyce couldn't find it in herself to calm down, even during the boat ride from the resort to Universal CityWalk; but she shook her head, Joyce had to calm down, and collect herself, if she couldn't find Claire at Universal, than she wouldn't be of any use on the island.

But how do you find someone, whom no one knows about? _Someone_ had to know Claire, but all she had was paperwork, a nametag, and the faded memory of a face to go by.


	3. Miracle

Finding Claire Dearing was going to be difficult, but it was made even harder once Joyce reached CityWalk, and discovered the district of shops and restaurants was closed to the public and her and other park-goers were rushed into a busy line towards the parking lot.

This was madness!

Joyce could hardly get a word in to ask what was going on before being forced back into line by security guards, but through the clamoring of the other guest, and shouts from park officials, she doubted anyone could hear her. The tension of the situation became clear as they were herded like cattle towards the already crowded parking lot.

With her initial panic at the discovery of her welcome letter finally settling, Joyce took a hard look around her, and noticed fire trucks and emergency vehicles of all kinds filed in between cars, and into every nook and cranny where they could fit; paramedics, firemen, cops, and other responders were among the crowd, and for a moment, she believed they were there for crowd control, but then it hit her: Blood.

The stinging, iron-laced scent of blood filled her nose as she stumbled upon an injured persons shoved between cars in the parking lot; a tall, thin woman, with gashes into her side and stomach just above the groin. At first she thought they didn't look fatal-but she knew better than to stand and watch. Joyce called above the crowd, hidden behind shrubs and cars, hoping to get the attention of a paramedic.

Nothing mattered now-not even her job-all that mattered was getting any wound shut.

The woman said nothing as Joyce got to work ripping apart her jacket and tying it around the woman's waist, putting pressure on her abdomen, and forcing the gash to close itself -that wasn't the only wound however and upon lifting her shirt, Joyce found two independent scratches moving simultaneously in a near figure-eight pattern across the woman's whole stomach.

This pattern was almost intricate, but it was sloppy, and tore apart the woman's belly button, before digging two deep gashes above the right side of her hip. "You're going to be okay-" she mumbled, somehow hoping the victim could hear her. The pool of blood below the woman told Joyce that she was barely conscious now, if she survived this, it would truly be a miracle unlike any other. The blood was hot and sticky, the sun scorched and by now burned into Joyce's back, but it was worth it, if the victim of the attack could live.

But then that led Joyce to wonder, what kind of attack caused this?

With all of the commotion and panic, she failed to learn what caused sirens to fill the air above her, and rock the pavement below, she didn't recall hearing gunshots and from what she could tell from the victim's stomach, there was no exit wound, only an initial penetration and following lacerations to her skin. Of course Joyce's knowledge of actual types of wounds were limited, and truly she only knew from television what may have happened.

However, that still left her clueless as to what kind of weapon was used.

They appeared to be giant stab wounds but they were uncoordinated.

Joyce could guess that if this was an attempted murder, that a human would have at least _aimed_ but this was not the case.

None of the wounds went very far above the now destroyed belly-button, had the woman been attacked by a kid?

It was a stupid suggestion, but it was the only one she could come up with.

Lost in her daze, Joyce found herself continuing to tear away at strips of her jacket, and stuffing them into the gashes and holds, putting pressure when she thought too much blood was leaking out-

A sudden blur of gray and silver caught her eye, as a paramedic kneeled down to join her, with others quickly behind. Joyce must have looked like a mess by now, with blood on her hands, clothes, face, hair and everywhere between, one may have thought she was finger-painting.

At the order of the paramedic, Joyce listed off every detail she could about the victim and her injuries. The medics said it was too risky to remove the woman in that position, and while several worked on the victim, another pulled Joyce away, and checked on her.

She insisted his efforts were wasted on her, she wasn't injured, and with another brief look at the parking lot, Joyce realized this woman was not the only victim of some mysterious attack.

Before the paramedic could turn away, Joyce prodded him for answers as to _what_ caused the attack.

As he hurried away, he explained that even he didn't know.

All they were told was that some animal was loose inside Universal, and that these injuries were unlike anything he had seen in his career.

It was a vague answer for sure, but it was something.

Joyce couldn't stand the sight of the injured victim anymore and turned away, stumbling towards the public restroom nearby, to hopefully wash her face free of the blood.

She felt shaken, almost disturbed, as she washed herself clean, watching the blood drain away, and under shaky breath she mumbled about hating the sight. The sickly scent of blood made her ill, the very sight of it want to make her hurl; all of those crime and detective shows became less inviting when blood was involved.

There came a loud bang as the door to the bathroom door swung open, and a firemen, wearing a mask ordered her out after checking to make sure she wasn't injured.

She rejoined the crowd of guest in the parking lot now mostly cleared of firetrucks and vehicles, even as she filed in a line to leave the park, Joyce began to her hear mumbles of guest who were suspicious of the attacks, some claiming it was caused by a boar, or a black bear, both native to Florida, but seldom seen attacking humans.

That idea seemed more idiotic than her theory of a _child_ having been the cause of the attacks, with so many cars and streets, any large animal would have been roadkill long before they could go anywhere near the inner workings of Universal. But, theories were made to be speculated, and Joyce had another one.

Shifting her way through the crowd, Joyce made her way _back_ towards the park itself, cutting through a restricted area and sneaking towards an employee's only section of one particular building-filled with confidence, and so much burning adrenaline, she almost got a kick out of being able to sneak past security.

It was an office space filled with computers and papers, some computers remained lit with half-written emails, leading her to believe the occupants left in a hurry. A room that could host a meeting was filled with scattered papers, and as Joyce discovered, more blood, along some of the walls, but not very much. However, like the victim she helped earlier, the smears of blood were hip high, and along the walls were those same two intricate marks, along with punctures near a few streaks of blood.

She didn't understand; why were the walls covered so many fine streaks? Why were the puncture marks so deep into the dry wall?

What the hell caused this?

Joyce continued to following the streaks of blood, noticing they tapered out towards the end of a long hall way and faded altogether when a smear of blood struck a door frame into a large, room resembling that of a cafeteria. Trays were scattered everywhere on the floor, tables, benches, with a few humorously having struck the walls spilling food everywhere. Surprisingly enough, the room seemed free of blood, and the only thing she could smell was over-cooked chicken left deep in fry baths.

There came a rumble out of nowhere and the harsh screeching of an animal in distress, a bellow like roar filled the kitchen before stopping abruptly; in her fear Joyce fell on all fears and slid under one of the lowest tables, where she could see what looked like some kind of paws fly by just a few feet away. But there were no claws that she could see, more likes hooves.

Joyce caught her breath, a slight panic taking over as she feared a boar had indeed gotten loose, and was terrorizing the park guest. _This is so stupid_, she thought.

_I'm going to get myself killed._

Self-preservation finally kicked in, and Joyce made her way towards the door she came into-screw the job-she wasn't going to be tore apart like the woman from earlier. It was a mistake to come here, it was a mistake to sign up.

Those feelings of doubt and regret washed away when another breath-taking sight beheld her in place-

Emerging out from under the table and grasping the necklace of Valentine with one hand, disbelief washed over her and goosebumps took over her skin at the very sight. She had to prop herself up on the table in order to take in what she saw.

She believed what she was seeing, but part of her still wanted to scream.

With loud, deafening bellows, a creature fought to free its twin horns from some electrical equipment that had been pulled free of the wall-it seemed to scream, almost out of fear as it violently shook its crested head and pulled away, dragging the metal debris with it. With every shake, glass fractured and sprayed its face, causing it to give out another shrill bellow.

"It's…it's a Triceratops-"

Joyce knew better.

Joyce knew better than to step in, it was irresponsible and she would likely get hurt, but the train of logic that wanted her to leave departed, and she felt nothing but sympathy.

She stepped forward carefully towards the creature as it violently tossed its head back and forth, smashing the equipment against walls and tables with desperate wails. To Joyce it felt as if the animal was asking for help-it cried, tears seemed to leak from its beady black eyes as it continued to thrash about.

With caution she continued to step forward, and held her hands out, trying to get the animal's attention on her and away from its entrapped horns, but it ignored her, and smashed its head against the wall once more, this time breaking off a portion of the debris and revealing the insides of the equipment were still live; wires and coils of all kinds were burning red hot and giving off electricity that shocked and burned the animal's horns, putting the creature in severe pain, and the thrashing was only making it worse.

It broke her heart to hear those screams, but they put her on edge, she had no idea how to help. She had to be quick, there was no way of knowing what other injuries it had, the kitchen equipment blocked her view of its face plate, and there could be lacerations she didn't know about.

"Hey!" Her voice echoed around the cafeteria but it quickly garnered the triceratop's attention, and within seconds those horns pointed towards her. The sight of those horns were haunting, as they were stained with dried blood, from potentially many different victims, but as she surmised, most of it from the victim she helped earlier. For a moment her mind raced back to the tall woman, but she was quickly pulled back to reality as the triceratops bellowed again, this time even louder than before.

"Can you hear me?" A stupid question, but it kept the animal's horns pointed towards her-she understood she wasn't in the best position, but better her than the kitchen, where another disaster might wait for them. "Shhhhh….calm down…" the triceratop's bellowing became shallower the more Joyce spoke, its breathing slowed and it began to pace in circles around the cafeteria.

Joyce silently followed it from behind before appearing along its side and using one hand to grace against the right flank of the triceratops, with the other grasping at one of the horns.

The triceratops was large and imposing, roughly the size of a young bull, with horns that reached towards the skies, and a giant frilled crest that sported smaller horns-she grasped the crest carefully and pulled up closer to its face with extreme caution, noticing those beady black eyes covered in a solid gray sheen. They held little color against a smoky green faceplate, like a black button on a Christmas sweater.

"You poor thing, no wonder you got stuck-" she mumbled to herself. Knowing nothing about this creature, its graying eyes only told her that it may have been blind, which would explain the reason for such randomized attacks. And, of course, for their current situation.

_Don't be stupid, run, get the hell out_, her inner voice screamed, but Joyce pushed it away.

With the triceratops calmed for now, Joyce pulled out more of her sweater and loosed wrapped some of the fabric around her hands. She assumed this would insulate and save her skin from at least _some_ burns, as unlikely as it was to help at all, she had to do something-she stepped forward again, this time rubbing her hand against its facial crest and whispering softly to it, trying to get the animal completely still now. "You're going to hate me for this, but it's all I can do right now, little buddy."

When the triceratops stopped thrashing so violently, the live wires inside remained still and failed to make contact with the horns, allowing it calm down and giving Joyce a good angle of attack as she gripped the fabricated lining of the equipment with the rest of her sweater.

As with two feet planted firmly on the ground, she pulled hard, teeth gritted and pulled with all the strength she could. The pain to her hands and arms were immeasurable, but she felt the debris loosen as she fell back on her rear, and half a second later the debris were flying through the air as the triceratops tossed its head and threw off what remained of the debris back towards the kitchen. It impacted more equipment with even greater force, and sent sparks flying all over the kitchen.

Oil and grease from fry equipment filled the air and splashed them both, Joyce shook it off, as the triceratops shook its hide off. It wasn't happy, that she could understand, but she could tell it felt much better without that debris lodged onto its horns.

However, that wasn't the end, as the room soon filled with smoke.

The spraying grease along with sparks of the other machinery caused a fire to breakout from within the kitchen, and thanks to the piles of napkins and smocks and aprons left strewn on the counters, the whole room soon filled with massive flames.

A soft whistle caught Joyce's attention and she turned her head to witness a wall thermometer popping free of its socket, and exploding-the room was growing hotter every second they were inside as the destroyed equipment continued to spray fire and sparks around them. "Shit, shit-we have to get out of here-"

It was becoming harder and harder to breath as the room filled with dark suffocating smoke.

"C'mon, we have to get out-" Joyce could hardly think, she just took action-

As the flames spread closer and closer to the two of them, she grabbed the triceratops by the smaller, more cone shaped horn located near its nostril and tried to lead it forward like cattle, but it hardly budged. Perhaps it was pure exhaustion, fear, or both, but the animal seemed to refuse. "Please, I know the way out, we have to get out of here!" She begged, and pulled again, and this time with a loud grunt, it followed her lead back towards the hallway.

The last thing Joyce wanted to see was it charging through walls and causing another disaster in its wake so she carefully threaded the triceratops through the flames, taking absolute care not to allow even its tail to get burned. She was sure, at any hint of pain, those two horns would bore right through her-

No, she refused to think about that-

Nothing was going to go wrong even as the world seemed to collapse in a fireball around her and the triceratops. With every grunt the animal made she whispered to it, trying to hide the stress and fear that swelled her voice and filled her throat. The air was getting thinner, so she took to the floor hoping to take in what air was left and crawled slowly towards the door, reaching up to grasp the frill and lead it forwards.

Her vision was going gray now, her body felt like the sun, burning into every inch of her skin. She saw this light like in a tunnel slowly reaching forward and pulling her. There came another bellow, and then-

Her vision faded-

Without enough air, Joyce herself collapsed into a heap on the ground just ten feet from the door, the flames growing closer and licking at her clothes-

Noticing that the hand had slipped off, the triceratops bent forward to nuzzle Joyce with its nose and horns, trying to get her up-it bellowed loudly but got no response from the blacked-out Joyce. It too could feel the heat of the intense situation, the heat seemed to come closer and it was growing more uncomfortable with every passing second.

It desperately pawed at Joyce and tried to lick her face, but nothing was working. Frustrated by her failure to get up, the triceratops bent forward and used its beak to snatch Joyce's shoulder before beginning to pull forward in the same direction. The heat was beginning to lap at its own tail and it pushed forward faster and faster dragging her with it.

Using its long horns and crest, it smashed its way through walls and doorways before finally coming up to the main entrance of the employee's only center and violently pushed open glass doors that held fast against its weight.

The triceratops stopped once it felt sunlight against its hide and released Joyce from its beak, immediately prompting the arrival of other humans and emergency responders. The scents of all the different park guest confused it and it bellowed out aggressively, taking a position over Joyce, shielding her with its body.

It waved its horns with a defensive stance and stomped its feet, making its position over Joyce clear.

An echo that rocked the park soon put a stop to that as tranquilizer needles soon riddled its on hide on both flanks and the triceratops collapsed beside Joyce-medics on the scene, already attending to the wounded, pulled Joyce away from the triceratops. Other personal dressed in white and blue, and wearing armor took place over the knocked-out triceratops, giving it medical attention, and tying its limbs up.

* * *

"You don't have to stay here-do you understand?"

A soft voice pulled Joyce away from her wandering thoughts, she hardly gave the speaker any attention as she gazed out the window, awestruck at the sight before her.

"You can go back."

A sigh escaped her lips, she didn't know what to say.

What could _anyone_ say?

"How can-how can you ask me that?" She chimed up finally, after what seemed like an eon of silence had passed; her only comfort was the hum and whir of the plane, and the rhythm of the ocean waves below.

"I'm only giving you the option I would have given anyone in your position. Simon was eager to give you that choice, and he was adamant that if you desired to part ways with us, that you would be compensated for-"

"It's not about the money! Its not about any of that!" Joyce rose from her seat and tossed her phone against the wall of the plane, it fell open, but remained unbroken. The young woman collapsed to the floor, smashing her tired, weakened body against it.

"Than-what is this about? Why were you so eager to come with us?"

With a shaky breath Joyce got to her knees and climbed back into her seat, trying to gather herself. Inside, her mind was tumbling; tumbling like a rock falling further and further down a mountainside, she could hardly remember anything from that day. She remembered the smell of blood no matter how far she tried to push it to the back of her mind, and the feel of those smooth horns, and a bumpy scaly frill, and the pained wails of-

Of a dinosaur.

"You don't get it, I don't _care_ that I'm injured. I haven't felt so alive in months-I've been _dreaming_ of this opportunity. Do you honestly believe, Claire, that I'm going to turn this away?" Despite the stinging pain that filled her hands, Joyce reached dup and grasped the necklace of valentine, curling the link chain around in her burned hands.

"Dinosaurs are alive and well again-throwing away this opportunity is like-like throwing away a lottery ticket! No, it's even BIGGER than that! You can't ask me to turn away a miracle, you _can't_. Because that's the choice you're giving me."

"It's not between going home and staying here. It's between making me to choose between a miracle and the boring life of any other teenager. School, popularity, college? Who cares?"

Joyce practically leaped for a set of pamphlets laid out on the coffee table, and tossed them towards Claire-with blood pumping, Joyce rapidly pointed out every species she could name. "They're alive again! I HAVE TO SEE THEM!"

With calm and composure, Claire only nodded in response and assisted Joyce back into her seat before strapping her into the chair.

The tall copper haired woman disappeared into the cockpit for a few moments before emerging again and strapping herself into another chair.

"Play it again, Claire-" Joyce chimed up again, her tired gaze landing on the tv as it clicked to life.

It showed footage shot from a helicopter, at first it was only a broad view of Orlando CityWalk, but after a few moments it zoomed in, and depicted a crowd of people in awe as a triceratops emerged from a collapsed building holding a young woman by her shoulder in its beak. Shrieks from the crowd be heard as the beast stood over the young woman and bellowed, shaking its horns defensively.

Screams of all kinds were heard again once the beast was riddled with needles and other non-lethal ammunition, it gave out a load groan and collapsed onto its side, revealing the injured Joyce.

The sight of her passed out self actually made her laugh, she didn't care what anyone said, the idea of her fallen on the ground with messy hair and ruined, sweaty makeup was as humorous as it was brutal. That day felt like true hell, but it was a day she would never forget.

"Can I see it again?" She asked suddenly, reaching for the remote and rewinding, pausing the screen over the roaring triceratops, the chyron scrolled by over it with the words; 'Living dinosaur pulls woman from collapsed building'.

"Can I see it again, Claire, the triceratops?"

What seemed like an eternity had passed before Claire attempted to speak-but she said nothing.

"I won't do anything-I'm not scared, I'm not mad, I just want to see it again. I want to see it where it should be, eating grass in a pasture with its herd. The thing is blind, its not its fault. It didn't mean to hurt anyone-"

"You knew that it was blind, you knew, and you chose to intervene, do you understand what it could have done to you?" Claire's voice was like thunder, there was a certain indescribable fury that Joyce didn't understand.

Joyce quieted down, she didn't expect to be snapped at by anyone, and she wasn't used to this. "It would have died, Claire, it's a gift from God, that little triceratops, I couldn't let it die-"

"You were willing to throw your life away, to protect it-" The frown that had taken Claire's face faded away into a soft smile.

"You saves her life, and possibly many others. Letting you see her again is the least I can do-"

Tearing away the buckles, Joyce practically leaped into Claire's lap, embracing the woman tightly, a few tears rolling off her cheeks-after some hesitation, Claire hugged her back quietly. Everything hurt, her whole body throbbed with pain from the burns to her skin, but she had never felt so happy.

After being strapped in once more by another staff officer from the cockpit, Joyce's gaze once more fell upon the television screen, and onto the image of the triceratops as it roared, and stood fast over her body.


End file.
